Hydrogen

Beyond curtailment of abundant solar and wind output lies a giant sponge of industrial need. Engie Impact is determined to connect the dots.

The project includes a solar park coupled with what HDF Energy claims is the “largest green hydrogen storage of intermittent electricity sources” at 128 MWh. Importantly, the company also simultaneously announced expansion plans into Australia, saying its hydrogen technology will soon be available here, adding that it has “projects already in development for Australia”.

Storing hydrogen in carbon nanotubes and other nanostructures is still far from reaching commercial maturity. A Japanese research team, however, has developed a new simulation technology that may help better estimate the energy needed to favour the ideal interaction between hydrogen and its storage material.

A 19.8 kW PV system is powering a telecommunications antenna at a French air control centre. When it produces more energy than needed, the surplus is used to produce hydrogen which is then utilised to produce new electricity via a fuel cell system and provide power to the antenna during a period of up to five days. For short-term storage, lithium-ion batteries are used.

Operated by Gasunie, the underground storage facility is located near Veendam in the province of Groningen and should be fully operational in 2026. Tests will be run until spring 2022.

Renewables developer Edify Energy has been granted development approval to build and operate a green hydrogen production plant of up to 1 GW, as well as a behind-the-meter solar and battery storage facility within the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Townsville, northern Queensland. 

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology are testing technology which claims to increase the output of hydrogen fuel cells by as much as 60%, put forth by Australian transport technology company, Titan Hydrogen.

The federal government has announced it will extend its prospective national network of clean hydrogen hubs to each of Australia’s states. The move was welcomed by a number of industry bodies, though some say the program doesn’t go far enough with government spending still lagging our European counterparts.

As councils in suburban areas seek to maximise access to services and amenity by planning for higher-density living, outdoor spaces soaked in sunlight and rich with plant life are at risk. In two world firsts, Heliosystems has used concentrated solar power, a cousin of PV, to cast warming, mood-lifting light where the sun would otherwise not shine.

Queensland’s ambition to become a leading producer and exporter of green hydrogen has received a boost with state government-owned electricity generator Stanwell teaming with a consortium of Australian and Japanese energy companies to commence a feasibility study for a proposed large-scale production and export project in Gladstone.